Vikramjeet Pratap v. The State Of Bihar
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA
CRIMINAL MISCELLANEOUS No.65453 of 2025 Arising Out of PS. Case No.-32 Year-2025 Thana- LAHERIYASARAI District- Darbhanga ====================================================== Vikramjeet Pratap S/o Sitaram Singh R/o Village- Shahari, PS- Badh, DistrictPatna ... ... Petitioner/s
Versus
The State of Bihar ... ... Opposite Party/s ====================================================== Appearance :
For the Petitioner/s :
Mr. Maya Shankar Mishra, Advocate.
Mr. Gopal Krishn Nishant, Advocate.
For the State :
Mr.Narendra Kumar Singh, APP.
For the Informant :
Mr. Nishant Choudhary, Advocate.
====================================================== CORAM: HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE PURNENDU SINGH ORAL ORDER 17-09-2025 Heard Mr. Maya Shankar Mishra, learned counsel along with Mr. Gopal Krishn Nishant, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner; Mr. Narendra Kumar Singh, learned APP for the State and Mr. Nishant Choudhary, learned counsel for the informant.
2. The petitioner seeks pre-arrest bail in connection with Laheriasarai P.S. Case No. 32 of 2025 registered for the offence punishable under Sections 338, 336(2), 319(2), 318(2) and 3(5) of the BNS, 2023.
3. As per the allegation made in the F.I.R., the petitioner allegedly issued fake driving license in connivance with the District Transport Officer, Head Clerk, Data Entry Operator and In charge Assistant. Petitioner was posted as
2/4 programmer in the District Transport Office, Darbhanga, who is an outsourced employee by BELTRON.
4. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner submitted that the petitioner is innocent and has committed no offence as alleged. The District Transport Officer was the in charge when the offence was committed and he is responsible for all the illegality and forgery which has been committed under his signature. Since the petitioner is the programmer, he is nowhere concerned with the offence as alleged. Admittedly, in the present case, OTP was obtained from the Head Clerk namely co-accused Ajay Singh. It is also admitted that the District Transport Officer was holding dual charge and merely shifting his responsibility on the petitioner and other co-accused which has been enlarged on pre-arrest bail cannot absolve him, as no fake or genuine driving license can be generated in absence of verification by the District Transport Officer. The petitioner being the programmer is innocent and is not involved in any manner in the alleged offence, as has been alleged in the F.I.R.
5. Per contra, Mr. Nishant Chaudhary who has tendered his appearance on behalf of the informant has submitted that the informant is an advocate and on the basis of
3/4 his complaint regarding issuance of fake driving license, an inquiry was conducted by the Additional Collector cum District Public Grievance Redressal Officer, Darbhanga and on the basis of the said inquiry report, the Joint Secretary, Transport Department, Bihar directed the District Collector, Darbhanga to take legal action and initiate departmental proceedings against the guilty officers and employees. The complicity of the petitioner cannot be denied who in connivance with the District Transport Officer and Data Entry Operator issued fake driving license. The District Transport Officer has been granted bail on technical ground, so far as, the Data Entry Operator is concerned, his bail has been cancelled.
6. Learned APP for the State has also opposed the prayer for grant of pre-arrest bail to the petitioner.
7. Having considered the rival submissions made on behalf of the parties and having considered the allegation made in the F.I.R., I find that in the State of Bihar, the public are being cheated at almost all the level, be it Circle level office or the District Transport Office. The petitioner is an outsourced employee and his role is of programmer. It has been submitted on his behalf that the manner in which the allegation has been alleged, petitioner has no role in generation of fake driving
4/4 license. The main accused is the District Transport Officer. I find that the driving license are issued under the authority of the District Transport Officer and he is on bail. The petitioner, prima facie, has made out a case to be released on bail.
8. The petitioner, above named, is directed to be released on pre-arrest bail, in the event of his arrest or surrender before the Court below within a period of four weeks from today, on furnishing bail bond of Rs. 10,000/- (Ten thousand) with two sureties of the like amount each to the satisfaction of learned CJM, Darbhanga in connection with Laheriasarai P.S. Case No. 32 of 2025, subject to the condition as laid down under Section 438(2) Cr.P.C / 482(2) BNSS.
9. The District Court is directed to verify the criminal antecedent of the petitioner and if it is found that the petitioner is involved in some other cases as what has been stated in Para3 of the bail petition, this order will automatically lose its force.
10. The bail application stands disposed of.
(Purnendu Singh, J) mantreshwar/- U T